As you all probably know, the Wolves take on the Portland Trailblazers tonight at Target Center. As to what sort of fighting chance we’ve got, that is highly debateable. What is not debateable is that our fellow Bloguin member Sheed over at Bust a Bucket runs a pretty sweeeet Portland Trailblazers blog. I advise you all to check it out if you’ve got any interest in their team, or just enjoy the NBA in general. With that said, in honor of tonight’s unholy bloodbath and desecration game, Sheed and I exchanged a friendly little Q&A. Below are his answers to my wit inducing and highly thought provoking questions. If you want to see my screwball answers to his queries, you will have to go check out his blog. Without further delay:

CW: 1. The Blazers are looking great this year. Where do you see them finishing in the playoff race, and how do you like their chances to advance?

SHEED: Ironic that you should ask me that question after two beatings by Western Conference playoff teams. On Monday I probably would have told you Portland is ready to win in the first round of the playoffs. But today, with our inability to win against good teams on the road, I feel like we could get swept by any of the top few teams.

But to be more realistic and less emotional, I think the schedule favors us making the playoffs and possibly getting a decent seed. No matter what seed we get, I’ll be happy if the team gets some playoff experience. It’s been a long year for our 4 rookies and the future is definitely bright.

CW: 2. What’s up with Greg Oden? Will he ever be injury free and realize his potential? Ever wish you guys had Durant instead?

SHEED: I don’t really understand what is wrong with Greg Oden currently. He’s officially listed as OUT for the game tonight and there has been speculation that he is the one deciding not to play. I’m not sure if he has that killer instinct and a will to play through injuries. The fact is, he’s still very young, these injuries appear to be minor and I won’t get too frustrated with him until next year if the same drama keeps happening.

For me, a guy who likes to score and not play defense, Durant intrigues me. He is truly a special talent but I’m not convinced he would have fit on our team. I think we’d be a terrible defensive team and there wouldn’t really be enough shots to go around. I like the way Brandon has evolved into the main scoring option. Had Durant come to Portland we would have a very different team. Who knows if we’d be better, I’m happy with our current team for now.

CW: 3. The Wolves play the Blazers tonight. How bad of a bloodbath will it be? Will any of your starters score 60 points? Or will they all be done playing by halftime?

SHEED: This is the NBA CW and anything can happen. You did see that the Clippers beat Boston the other night, right? I’ll tell you how this game is going to play out; it will not be a bloodbath, nor will any of our guys score 60. We have a tendency to play down to an opponent’s level on the road. I would be willing to bet the game is close in the 4th quarter. Hopefully for our sake we pull away late in the game but this game is actually a little scary right now.

CW: 4. Any thoughts on the T’Wolves in general? I don’t blame you if you don’t even give our squad a passing thought…

SHEED: I used to be a hardcore fantasy guy so I know a lot of players across the league. I’ve been keeping my eye on the Wolves; I keep seeing some big numbers from Gomes and Foye, then the increased production from Kevin Love. I can’t decide if you guys are a long ways off or just one good player away from being decent. It’s too bad Jefferson went down; I really like his work ethic on the interior. I think if you get him back next year and make a decent selection on draft day, you guys might start turning a corner. Am I wrong here? I tend to see the upside in every team, but please correct me if I’m wrong.